Football is a more intense and physical game than hockey. There is more space between players in hockey unlike football, which involves shoulder pushing, jumping, head butting etc.

Hockey has also changed over the years, with the sport moving to beautiful astro turf. So players rely on sweep shot more on hockey, because the ground is so smooth, compared to this football is very rugged.

Yet universally people, including women, love and play football more than hockey. Realising this, a few players and I decided to start the Delhi Women’s Football Players Welfare Association in 2017. Our idea was to encourage women of all age groups to play the sport. But now our biggest challenge is that we can’t find a free ground to play football. A lot of play grounds in Delhi, including government grounds, are pre-booked by sports academies.

A government school ground, which we eventually identified after a lot of searching was not good enough and had time slots, which will not encourage women to come and play there. It would be great if we can find at least one ground that can act like a safe space for the players, where they come and play at least twice a week.

Right now that’s not possible because you have to pay money to book a ground, even for an hour or so, which a lot of women can’t afford. We are planning to revive our efforts post March, next year when the tournaments are over. We are also thinking of working out some arrangement with the academies.

(Jyoti Ann Burret is a former Indian football player. She plays for Hans WFC. In conversation with Sangeeth Sebastian, writer and founder, Vvox, a sextech platform. The interview is a part of an AKADialog initiative to capture the lives of newsmakers.)